Nightmares
by A Lost Cause To Follow
Summary: Yin and Yang, Balance, you can't create a dream without creating a Nightmare, two months after they leave Ivalice, the nightmare they created comes to haunt them, but, they are not the first to fight it. If escaping a dream was hard, try a Nightmare.
1. Chapter 1: I'm Still Standing

Chapter 1: I'm Still Standing

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own FFTA, Square Enix do, if I did I wouldn't be posting my story here would I….

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Marche was nervous, his heart hammered in his chest, his eyes were tearing up, he couldn't take it any more…

His mother had called him, saying there was something "urgent" to do with Donned, something to do with his new therapy.

Donned had been getting worse and worse ever since they returned to the "real" Invalice, he had spent the past two weeks in hospital.

Sweating from worry, Marche looked around the room to try and find something to take his mind off of Donned…he found it.

A red-haired girl walked up to the front desk, she looked just like Ritz…

But Ritz didn't dye her hair any more…

Marche called out her name before he had a chance to think, it was like he had seen a ghost…

The girl turned round, it was Ritz.

Ritz looked as if she was hiding some terrible secret, like she had betrayed herself, or…perhaps Marche. She burst into tears and ran out of the hospital.

Marche froze, but his heart was now racing, did Ritz know something he didn't? Something about Donned?

"Marche Radiuju" called a nurse, making Marche jump out of his chair, spin round and almost scream, "You can go in now."

Marche stood, his legs were shaking so much they almost buckled beneath him, slowly he made his way over to his brother's therapy room, he slid open the chair, to see his brother's wheelchair…empty…

Then Donned poked his head out from behind a curtain.

That was one shock to many for Marche's legs, he slipped and fell flat on his back. Marche, dazed, looked up to see his brother standing over him.

Donned…Standing?

"I'm just going to fetch your mother" said the doctor, before leaving.

But when the doctor left, Donned's happy face became completely serious.

"Marche…" he started, nervously, scared, "I…I don't know why, I don't know how, but this has something to do with Invalice…something to do with dreams"

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That's Chapter 1, Chapter 2 is written, it might even be up tonight, please R&R and flame all you want, I like to play with fire 


	2. Chapter 2: Followed

Chapter 2: Followed

Marche shivered, it was a winter typical of Invalice, but part of him felt the cold was wrong, like half of him still belonged somewhere warmer…

He stared at a nearby shop window, but not to look through, instead he was looking at the reflection on it. It was the reflection of a girl, a girl that had followed him since the hospital.

She had long dark brown hair and was slightly shorter than Marche, she was about his age, 14, maybe older. She looked very out of place in the cold, she was probably wearing her entire wardrobe, and her face was still pale. If anything she looked vulnerable.

A tune rung out from one of her pockets, Marche couldn't remember the name of the music, or why he remembered it, or where from, but he remembered it…

Marche pretended to be focused on what was in the shop window, but really he strained his ears to hear what the girl was saying…

"Yes, I'm with him" she said, as if it was obvious "Her…well…she isn't really in a fit state to talk right now…"

Ritz? Thought Marche, his mind drifted back to the hospital lounge.

"Are you sure…" she continued "no, not in the least?!? How like you…well if it's the best guess we have, ill follow it, but…what do you mean Diabolos?...ok, tell me later"

Marche was about to jump on her, what was she doing stalking him and his friends for…

"Oh you found the prince! Brilliant"

Marche span round.

"Prince!?" he started in a rage "Prince?! Mewt?! Who are you? What do you want with Mewt?"

"My name is Avela" the girl replied, "And…I want to save us all from a nightmare"

"What's Diabolos?" Marche continued, tightening his hands

Avela giggled for a second, "If you were listening that well you should have realised _I don't know_"

"This isn't a joke!" Marche said coldly "You have no idea what we went through, what are you trying to do to us"

A grim seriousness and sadness washed over Avela's face, "You don't know us either, what we sacrificed, what we are doing" Avela broke down, here eyes teared up "You have no idea what you have done…"

With that Avela turned, she whispered to herself as if Marche wasn't there "Fellon, I hope you're alright, I don't know what we would have done without you"

A/N: Anyone reading play FFXI? The two new characters are kinda crossover's from that, if anyone can guess "what" Fellon is ill give you a cookie (Hint: Fellon is closely related to the second new main character: Liato)


	3. Chapter 3: Crimson

KupoKupoKupoKupo (you get an extra Kupo for being my first reviewer)

Firstly the real bad bit: my spelling, that was kinda dum of me, I put the right names in my spellchecker heh…but while we are on the subject, its magic

As for chapter length the first few are kinda supposed to be, when the story picks up they will get longer, but it is surprising how short a side of A4 turns out to be

And if you like what I did to Doned, you will love Mewt later on

And now to the point:

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Chapter 3: Crimson

Marche sighed, he seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

His mind was lost in the events of the past two hours, Doned's miracle recovery, that girl…what was her name…Avela. She ran off in tears before Marche managed to get her to answer any of his questions.

And who Fellon was, he had no idea, he guessed Fellon was someone that sacrificed themselves for Avela…

But this had to be more than a coincidence, it was barely mid-day, and the sun was setting, and that hours too is early, even for Ivalice.

In the confusion, he had forgotten something, someone, and when he turned a corner into St. Ivalice Park that something he had forgotten hit him, like a big pink truck.

Ritz, huddled up in a red and pink ball, on a bench, crying.

'Damn, how could I forget about Ritz?' thought Marche, feeling as if he had betrayed her.

Slowly, he paced his way across the park to her. The snow crunched underneath his feet, knew she could hear, she knew someone was coming, but she just sat there, ignoring him, crying.

"Ritz," he said, softly, "what's wrong?"

Ritz, didn't reply, she just stood up, as if she didn't see Marche, and walked away, into the sunset.

Her pale pink hair seemed to weave in and out of the rays of orange light that shone round her thin frame, like leaves falling in autumn, for a moment Marche was paralyzed, staring at the sight in front of him.

"Ritz, talk to me" he called, a single tear falling from one of his own cheeks

Ritz gave out one last great sob then fell to her knees, silent, surrounded by white glistening snow.

Marche ran to her, putting his arms around her, Ritz was the last person Marche thought would be acting like that, but holding her in his arms, felt so nice, so right…it was something that words could not describe.

After a short time of him gazing at the light as it reflected of Ritz' hair, Marche spoke, "Come on Ritz, what's wrong?"

Ritz turned her face and stared at Marche, he gazed into her eyes, he had never been this close to them before, they were beautiful.

"Marche, you know I don't dye my hair anymore, it's going red naturally…"

Marche didn't really see how having natural red hair was anything to cry over

"Since we got back from the _other _Ivalice"

Marche thought back to Doned, and how he said his walking was to do with dreams…and now Ritz' hair, they are going back to just like they were in the _other _Ivalice, and Avela calling Mewt the "prince"…whatever was doing all of this, had something to do with the _other_ Ivalice.

"My hair isn't the only thing that's changed, the redder it got, the more this fear has taken me over…"

Marche thought that Ritz was talking about the "nightmare" Avela had spoken of, but in the back of his mind a growling voice said otherwise…

'The last time you were in Ivalice, the only thing you wanted was be rid of it, now you want something more, here is your dream, Marche Radiuju'

"all I wanted all this time was for you to be here for me…"

The word's echoed inside Marche's head, he hugged Ritz tight, resting her head on his shoulders.

"This isn't like you Ritz, but whatever it is, don't cry, I'm here for you, I l…"

Then Marche noticed two shadows loom over him and Ritz.

"Doned?" he said, shocked, but he was more shocked who Doned was with, Avela.

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A/N That chapter was a bit (twice) longer than the original 2, hope you enjoyed, I'm not very good at the romantic stuff, and it is a bit early to get into romance stuff, but hey, there's a reason for that, and of course I'm not telling you why, I want you to read the next chapters stupid 


	4. Chapter 4: Rifts

Here we are, the first "full" length chapter, I have another written, but I'm going to wait to see if anybody actually reads this first

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Chapter 4: Rifts

"What are you doing with my brother?" spat Marche

For a second, Avela ignored him, looking around, then she spoke, "He's helping me find Mewt" Avela replied

"I thought you knew where he was" Marche replied, patronisingly

"We lost him" said Avela, shrugging

Marche had no idea how anyone could loose track of Mewt, but he didn't get to ask…

"Marche!" called out a deep voice, unmistakeably Cid's.

Running beside Cid was a boy, he skidded to a stop in the middle of the group, flicked part of his pitch black fringe out of his face and began talking, as if everyone was expecting some kind of briefing, and Marche sure wasn't.

"Still no sign of Mewt" the boy said, looking up, distracted by the sky.

His skin was pale like Avela's, but if he did feel cold, he didn't show it at all.

"how do _you_ loose someone?" said Avela, annoyed

"Well…Mewt is…a little different to last time you saw him" the boy replied, searching for the right words. Cid nodded as he spoke. "but don't worry, I'm sure he will find us"

"What!? Here!?" blurted Avela, "I thought we were supposed to keep him apart from them"

"That's the new plan"

"But…Diabolos…you said…" Avela said, sounding and looked hurt, "Liato…why do you always leave me a step behind…" she trailed off

"At least it's just the one step for you" interrupted Marche, he was going to continue, but his interruption was interrupted

A dark winged creature swooped down and landed in the centre of the group. Its body was immersed in a dark purple aura, warping anything near to it, but Marche could just make out its face

This creature, was Mewt.

Ritz, terrified, collapsed, and because Marche had forgotten about her, she almost took him with her.

Cid was unphased, he had seen Mewt like this before.

Liato was grinning…

"Mewt" whispered Marche…

"_He wont hear you_" Liato murmured, "_he's possessed_"

No matter how much Marche hated it, Liato was the only person that knew what was going on, and despite how sceptical he was about possession, he had witnessed stranger things before. Still, he had to ask…

"How do you know he's possessed?" asked Marche, hoping for once he would just be told what was happening…

"Dark aura, growing demonic wings, that's a pretty textbook possession to me"

…no luck, however, something else did happen

Liato walked behind Marche, and whispered over his shoulder,

"Right now, how much you know doesn't matter"

Liato pressed a cold metal object against Marche's back

"it's whether or not you can defend yourself that matters"

Marche gripped the object, wrapping his hand around what felt like a handle, as he did a subtle warmth flowed through the sword, and his body. This sensation, this weapon, he remembered very well.

Excalibur.

After staying there, immobile, the possessed Mewt finally moved, or his Aura did.

A surge of a dark emptiness burst up from the ground surrounding Mewt, and it spread, like a ripple but never rising up from the ground.

Marche turned to Liato, who nodded at him, just as the darkness started trailing up his body.

Marche looked down, the darkness was also starting to track up his legs, as it engulfed them they felt cold and numb…Marche had felt it before, the last time was before he fought Maetus, it was a rift.

Somehow, Ivalice was pulling him back…

Ritz' hair…Doned's recovery…was just Ivalice taking hold again…

Marche was half right, something had a hold of him, but that something wasn't Ivalice, and Marche was about to find out.

As the rift consumed Marche, he took one last look up at the sky, into the midday night, something strange always happened around rifts, he gave out a faint laugh, he should have seen it coming.

Being engulfed in a rift is a horrible experience, it feels like you are slowly being suffocated, you become light headed and feel as if you are constantly falling. Marche had never been in a rift for longer than a few seconds before, but this one wasn't going to end, this rift…was a place…

This was the domain of whoever, or whatever possessed Mewt…it had the same aura about it…and Marche was pretty confident he knew the name of whatever it was.

"Diabolos" Marche shouted "Where am I?".

At first, nothing replied, then a growling voice echoed around the void, but it seemed to be coming from his own mind…

"You, Marche Raduju are in my Nightmare" the voice echoed "I, am the lord of Nightmares"

A third world, Consciousness, Dreams and Nightmares…

"Why am I here?" Marche continued.

"You Marche, are one of four people which bind this world to your own, a bind that I must break if I am to turn dreams into nightmares"

"and to do that" Marche continued for Diabolos, aware of what was coming

"Yes, Marche, I have to kill you"

As Diabolos finished, Marche became even more breathless, he felt as if something was being drained from him, his life.

As his life dripped away from him, Marche searched for something to do, he knew who would know, Liato.

'How could Liato want this…' thought Marche, 'Damn you Liato…you chose this fate for me and you sealed it…Avela said you were trying to save us from a Nightmare…but here I am helpless…'

But Marche wasn't helpless…and he realised it

Marche's roar glared out through the emptiness, he swung his right arm, his Excalibur glowed white and left a searing white cut in the void, white spheres of divine energy exploded along the slice, breaking the emptiness apart.

"Divinity…how…" yelled Diabolos' demonic voice, enraged

As the emptiness dissolved around him, his friends became visible through the darkness. Somewhere to his right was Liato, laughing.

"So, the emptiness bleeds" he heard Liato's voice say.

The cut in the emptiness rushed out consuming the emptiness, it blew past Marche, as rays of light burst past him like a hurricane, he took a long, deep breath.

Then it stopped.

Marche was kneeling in the middle of a field, large blades of grass were blowing in a soft wind.

Marche looked around,

Avela was enjoying the breeze

Doned was poking Mewt…who was unconscious…and considerably less evil now

Cid was looking around, trying to find where they were

Ritz was looking around as well, their eyes locked, but she just smiled and continued looking around

Liato…was nowhere to be seen

Marche collapsed onto his back, that void was worse than any engagement he had ever been in, Cid came and sat down next to him.

"That boy…Liato, he told me some things you should know, but told me to wait until we got here to tell you" Cid began

"why didn't he tell me earlier?" Marche asked, something he should have done earlier

"because Marche, he was afraid even if you knew you had to return to Ivalice, you would try not to anyway" Cid said, then he paused

"The 'Nightmare' and Diabolos, are all parts of Ivalice, you created them, or at least made a link to them when you first came here" Cid began "all your good dreams and hopes formed one Ivalice, the other formed Diabolo's and his Nightmare, you never encountered it while you were here, you were too busy fighting the good to notice the real evil"

Marche nodded for Cid to continue

"Instead, two other people like you were also brought here, they are the ones Diabolo's seeked out."

"Avela and Liato…" Marche replied, he remembered when Avela burst into tears about what they had been through…he was up against a dream, they were in a nightmare…

"Yes Marche, but there's more, when you finally managed to return everyone to St. Ivalice you left the dream Ivalice shattered, but you didn't destroy it, but while it was weakened, the Nightmare filled the gaps, Diabolos tried to make all of the dream into a nightmare, but he couldn't. He needs to consume you four, to consume Ivalice"

"Can he still do it now?" asked Marche

Cid nodded.

"What…" Marche burst out "Then why did Liato bring us here?"

"You see, Diabolos can still get you here, but while we are in the dream realms Diabolos has a physical, tangible form"

"He can be defeated Marche…"

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A/N: And so it begins, and…yea I know no fights yet but…you want a story worth reading right? 


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